Oz the Great and Powerful
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: March 8, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
21
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
NPRBob MondelloMar 8, 2013
Oz the Great and Powerful tells the story of how the Wizard came to Oz, answering a question I suspect no one was asking, but with considerable digital wizardry. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMar 8, 2013
Is all of that to say that Oz the Great and Powerful comes even close to matching the timeless, iconic stature of 1939's "The Wizard of Oz"? No, of course not. That's not just a once-in-a-lifetime cultural phenomenon, but a once-in-many-liftimes one. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 8, 2013
Whether you like this movie may depend very materially on how you respond to Franco himself, but I found his casting very astute. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 7, 2013
Sometimes sweet, sometimes scary, sometimes sour, Oz the Great and Powerful is a film that doesn't know its own mind. A partially effective jumble whose elements clash rather than cohere, this solid but not spectacular effort stubbornly refuses to catch fire until it's almost too late. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichMar 6, 2013
It’s an earnest hope, to be sure, and the greatest strength of Sam Raimi’s imaginative, if highly uneven, take on L. Frank Baum’s series of children’s stories about that magical land over the rainbow is its unabashed sincerity. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 6, 2013
This trip isn’t so notable. It’s not bad. Some bits are enjoyable. But ultimately, other than some genuinely impressive visuals, it never makes a compelling-enough case to justify its existence. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithMar 1, 2013
A lavishly mounted re-telling that, for all its good intentions and visual wonders, can’t help seeming surplus to requirements. Read full review
60
VarietyJustin ChangMar 1, 2013
This elaborate exercise in visual Baum-bast nonetheless gets some mileage out of its game performances, luscious production design and the unfettered enthusiasm director Sam Raimi brings to a thin, simplistic origin story. Read full review
58
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanMar 10, 2013
What we get here is Oz the Amiable and Unthreatening. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 8, 2013
Raimi’s film is supposed to be about magic, but magic is in scant supply. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasMar 6, 2013
Much of Oz The Great And Powerful’s fate is tied to James Franco’s performance as Oz, and the center barely holds, with Franco often looking as overwhelmed by the task as he was by his hosting job on Oscar night. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMar 6, 2013
The film is stuffed with three endings too many. You can't blame Raimi for wanting to give us our money's worth. But after a while, you just want him to get to the Happily Ever After already. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMar 8, 2013
The more suitably antic Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp were considered for the part before Franco wandered into the picture with his stoner grin. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'HehirMar 7, 2013
Saying that Raimi’s trip to Oz is adequate eye candy with a good heart isn’t the same thing as saying it’s actually good. I was charmed at some moments, profoundly bored by others and almost never felt genuinely excited or emotionally engaged. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 7, 2013
Which is precisely what’s missing from Oz the Great and Powerful: that sense of emotional journey. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 7, 2013
There's no Judy Garland songs, no Scarecrow, no Tin Man, no Cowardly Lion. There's also no simplicity, no magic, no truth. Read full review
50
TimeRichard CorlissMar 7, 2013
Raimi, who launched his career with the cheapo horror mini-masterpiece "The Evil Dead" before helming the blockbuster "Spider-Man" trilogy, can’t infuse the story with much verve or joy. Read full review
50
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthMar 1, 2013
A valiant attempt to build on the magic of “The Wizard Of Oz,” and while it certainly doesn’t diminish the standing of that movie, Sam Raimi’s film provides proof that the more we know about the mysteries of our favorite stories, the less interesting they become. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 8, 2013
Aside from a trio of witches that can hold its own with Eastwick’s in the dishiness department, Oz the Great and Powerful is a peculiarly joyless occasion. Read full review
40
SlateDana StevensMar 8, 2013
A visually over-crammed, emotionally empty mega-spectacle on the model of Tim Burton’s "Alice in Wonderland." Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyMar 1, 2013
A miscast James Franco and a lack of charm and humor doom Sam Raimi's prequel to the 1939 Hollywood classic. Oz the Wimpy and Weak would be more like it. Read full review
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